State Armed Police Forces


The State Armed Police Forces of India are the police units established for dealing with serious law and order situations requiring a higher level of armed expertise than normal. The State Armed Police Forces exist in addition to the ordinary police services of the various states.
The various States have different titles for their armed police units. In addition to the general term "Armed Police", other titles in different states include Special Armed Police, Armed Constabulary, Provincial Armed Constabulary and State Military Police. Although the titles are different, their organisation, weapons, equipment and tasks are broadly the same. The central government of India now refers to these forces nationwide as the State Armed Police Forces and discourages use of the term "paramilitary". However, this terminology does not necessarily coincide with the existing terminology of the states of India; For example, the state of Bihar calls its state armed police force "Military Police", which clashes with central government definitions of "military" and "paramilitary". It is not yet clear whether such discrepancies will be resolved.
The State Armed Police act as a mobile armed reserve activated only on the orders from the Deputy inspector general of police or above. They are not usually in contact with the public except during public events, civil unrest, and natural disasters. They maintain key guard posts and participate in antiterrorist operations. Depending on the type of assignment, they may be or may not be carrying firearms.
Within states, each police district may maintain its own teams of policemen with higher firearms competence. Such teams, known as "District Armed Police or District Armed Reserve", are for purely local use led by commandant or deputy commandant, functions under the respective district police chiefs.
The State Armed Police Forces are headed by an Additional Director General of Police, who is the controlling authority and assisted by Inspectors General of police, Deputy Inspectors general of police, with the overall control of Director General of Police & State Police Chief. The SAPFs are typically organized into battalions or companies, each battalion is commanded by a "Commandant" of the rank of Superintendent of Police. The commandant is assisted by deputy commandants and assistant commandants. The structure of SAPFs are vary from state to state. The normal structure is given below;

Structure of State Armed Police Forces

Source:
The Armed Police battalions in the State will be led by an officer holding the rank of Additional Director General of Police. This officer will be responsible for the administration, training, operational preparedness, and welfare of personnel across all armed police units in the State. They will operate under the overall guidance and supervision of the Director General of Police.
A Commandant, equivalent in rank to Superintendent of Police, shall head each Armed Police Battalion. The Commandant may be assisted by a Second-in-Command also known as Deputy Commandant, equivalent in rank to Additional Superintendent of Police. Each Battalion may be divided into appropriate number of Companies and a Headquarters Company, each of which will be headed by an Assistant Commandant, equivalent in rank to Deputy Superintendent of Police.

Hierarchy of State Armed Police Forces

  • Additional Director General of Police
  • Inspector General of Police
  • Deputy Inspector General of Police
  • Commandant
  • Deputy Commandant/Second-in command
  • Assistant Commandant
  • Armed Police Inspector
  • Armed Police Sub Inspector
  • Armed Police Assistant Sub Inspector
  • Havildar/Head constable
  • Armed Police Constable

    Functions and duties

  • To assist the district police in maintenance of law and order.
  • To guard vulnerable points and vital installations.
  • VIP security: to provide escorts, static guards, and gunmen to threatened persons.
  • To perform bank security duties.
  • To perform elections, law and order duties in other states.
  • To provide force for duties such as celebration of festivals/fairs and special operations against anti-social/terrorist elements.
  • Disaster management - natural & manmade.
  • To perform out of state duty whenever desired by the government.

    Bihar Special Armed Police

The Bihar Special Armed Police is the state armed police force for the Bihar Police with headquarters at Patna led by CAPFs officer on deputation. It is frequently involved in clashes with Maoist rebels. The force has been expanded since 2006 to deal with the Maoist insurgency. It has 16 Battalions with approximately 1,000 personnel in each, from BSAP 1 to BSAP 16.
BSAP1 Gorkha Battalion is a Reserved Battalion mainly compromising of Indian domiciled Gorkhas. They are used for high level security duties, protecting the governor and others. Its headquarters is in Patna with nearly 1,500 serving personnel. BSAP 16 is a battalion recruiting only retired Indian Army soldiers.

Chhattisgarh Armed Police

  • Special Task Force was raised in the year 2007 for battling Maoist insurgents in Chhattisgarh. Headquartered in Baghera of Durg district, the force has hubs coming up in the districts of Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur and Bastar.
  • District Reserve Guard was formed by recruiting local tribal boys to counter the Naxals.
  • * Danteshwari Ladake, women commando unit of District Reserve Guard.
  • * Bastar Fighter Force.

    Haryana Armed Police

, headquartered at Madhuban, is the state armed police force of Haryana Police for Haryana state. It has five battalions, each with a sanctioned strength of 903 headcount. Three battalions are based at Madhuban, one in Ambala and one in Hisar. On 1 November 1966, six armed battalions were transferred to Haryana from Punjab, four were absorbed into Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force, and two remained with Haryana. The Haryana Armed Police includes the State Police Band.
  • 1st Battalion Haryana Armed Police, Ambala, transferred to Haryana in 1966 at the time of formation of Haryana.
  • 2nd Battalion Haryana Armed Police, Madhuban, transferred in 1966.
  • 3rd Battalion Haryana Armed Police, Hisar, raised in 1969.
  • 4th Battalion Haryana Armed Police, Madhuban, raised on 14 Sept 1973, includes Mounted Armed Police.
  • 5th Battalion Haryana Armed Police, Madhuban.

    Jharkhand Armed Police

was created to counter Naxalism in the state led by IPS officer on deputation.

Karnataka State Reserve Police

In Karnataka, the state armed police of wing of Karnataka Police trace their origins to the erstwhile Mysore State Imperial Service led by CAPF officers on deputation.
The armed police of Karnataka are led by CAPFs officer on deputation:
  • District Armed Reserve for each district
  • City Armed Reserve in the four commissionerates in the State namely Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubli-Dharwad
  • Special Task Force
  • Karnataka Armed Reserve Mounted Police - headquarters at Mysuru
  • Coastal Security Police
  • Government Railway Police
The Karnataka State Reserve Police is headed by an officer of the rank of additional director general of police, who is assisted by an inspector general and two deputy inspectors general of police at the police headquarters. The Karnataka State Reserve Police consists of 10 battalions. Four Battalions have their headquarters at Bengaluru and one each at Mysuru, Belagavi, Kalaburgi, Mangaluru, Shivamogga and Shiggoan.
Training Schools:
  • Karnataka State Reserve Police Training School, Munirabad.
  • Armed Police Training School, Bengaluru.
The Coastal Security Police was established in the year 1999. The wing is headed by an officer of the rank of Inspector General of Police, followed by Superintendent of Police & other staff. The CSP exercises jurisdiction over the territorial coastal waters of Karnataka from Talapady in Dakshina Kannada District to Sadashivgad in Uttara Kannada District covering about 320 km.

Kerala Armed Police

In Kerala, the Kerala Armed Police trace their origins to the early stages of the Kerala Police. Armed police battalions act as a reserve force for deployment whenever and wherever the District Police is short of manpower in maintaining law and order. There are 11 battalions spread over the state, with a combined strength of 6,755 personnel.
The armed police battalions of Kerala are:
  • Malabar Special Police
  • Kerala Armed Police Battalions
  • Special Armed Police
  • Rapid Response and Rescue Force
  • Kerala Armed Women Police Battalion
  • India Reserve Battalion
  • State Industrial Security Force
The "Additional Director General of Police, Armed Police Battalions", is the controlling authority who is assisted by the "Deputy Inspector General of Police, Armed Police Battalions". Each Battalion is under the control of a "Commandant" with the rank of Superintendent of Police.
The Special Armed Police was formed in 1955 by the then Travancore-Cochin government with its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram. Besides law and order duties in the southern range, Special Armed Police personnel are assigned to guard duties at the Raj Bhavan, Police Headquarters, etc. For the welfare of their personnel, the special armed police have a canteen, a gymnasium, a hospital with lab facilities and a nursery school. At present this battalion has a strength of seven companies.

Madhya Pradesh Special Armed Police

The main objective of Madhya Pradesh Special Armed Police, the state armed wing of Madhya Pradesh Police, is to maintain Law and Order in the state of Madhya Pradesh led by CAPFs officers on deputation. The responsibility of this Special Armed Force to look after the law and arrangement and also to control the areas affected by Naxalites, Social Courtesies, removal of bandits. They are active in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and in the States of South in an anti-terrorism role. Other than this they are deployed in the event of natural disasters.